[Rusttree]

1075guy,
I actually have a 2001 Insight as well. Seeing less and less survivors out there since the car got discontinued in 2006. I'm curious what your odometer is at considering how much you drive every day. I think I'm about to break 220k miles.

I just went through an interesting experience with my Insight that might affect you in the future. My IMA battery pack went completely dead about 2 years ago. The IMA light came on and eventually it stopped maintaining the 12V system in the car. I accidentally figured out that if I disconnected and reconnected the 12V battery (cycling power on the IMA computer), the computer "forgot" the IMA batteries were bad and brought everything back online. Predictably, that only lasted a few months before the battery pack got so bad, the computer would realize it almost instantly. Since the 12V system kept failing, and I was unwilling to spend the money to repair a 10+ year old car with 200,000+ miles on it, I thought the Insight was done.

But, then I learned I could remove the battery pack altogether. It takes a little bit of surgery, but I found a step-by-step guide online and had it done in about 2 hours. Interestingly, when the battery pack is completely removed, the car has no problem maintaining the 12V system. And honestly, the vehicle is so light and aerodynamic, I hardly notice a difference in mileage. I've gone from mid-60 MPGs to upper 50s. I've been driving like this for almost a year now. Of course, no autostop and the 12V starter is used every time. But a very viable option if you don't like the price tag of fixing or replacing your battery.

-Dan